A Michigan-based automotive supplier needed help building and testing an electronic controller used to operate a vehicle door lock. This controller, mounted inside the door handle, can be activated either by proximity touch or wirelessly through Bluetooth Low Energy using a cellphone or key fob.

The objective was clear: validate the controller’s durability and performance to ensure it met OEM production requirements. Ball Systems developed the BLEAM DAQ Cart Design Validation Tester, an automated measurement and control platform designed to interface with a motorized actuation fixture capable of accommodating eight PCAs (DUTs) inside a thermal chamber.

The door-lock controller PCA (DUT) included the following electrical and data interfaces:

Solving the Core Technical Challenge

The most challenging technical hurdle was collecting data reliably from the SOP interface. The solution required proper electrical signal conditioning of the SOP interface and capturing all data packet signal transitions in real time before quantifying pulse widths. In other words, the system first captured the raw SOP data at high speed, then performed pulse-width measurements during post-processing to ensure accuracy.

Coordinated Environmental and Electrical Validation

In operation, the tester controlled the actuation fixture, powered and interfaced with the attached DUTs, and managed the thermal chamber through programmed temperature cycles. As the temperature ramped up and down in short intervals, the system measured DUT actuation and switching performance, logging pulse timing data throughout the process.

National Instruments (NI) LabVIEW software was implemented as a recipe-based application. This allowed the customer to run validation sequences using different actuation speeds, fixture configurations, and temperature profiles.

Engineers could define temperature curves, actuation rates, communication checks, and data capture intervals. Operators selected a predefined recipe and initiated the run. The system executed the sequence identically every time.

That repeatability ensured DUT performance could be compared accurately across builds and environmental conditions. Consistent execution transforms raw signal captures into defensible engineering data.

High-Speed Data Acquisition and Structured Analysis

High-speed data acquisition was central to the platform’s performance. While DAQ hardware physically sampled signals, LabVIEW controlled when sampling began, which channels were active, how signals were conditioned, and how results were time-stamped and formatted.

Raw electrical transitions were converted into structured outputs, including pulse widths and response timing, that validation engineers could analyze with confidence. This tight integration between hardware measurement and software coordination ensured synchronized, accurate, and usable data.

LabVIEW also managed communication protocols by sending commands, listening for responses, and verifying that behavior met specification. It evaluated whether controllers responded within required timing windows, transitioned correctly under thermal stress, and maintained communication stability across temperature extremes. The system didn’t simply record activity — it interpreted performance in context.

Operator Control and Traceable Results

Even in an automated validation environment, operator interaction matters. LabVIEW provided a clear interface for selecting recipes, monitoring live measurements, viewing pass/fail results, and managing test sequences. The goal was clarity and control — not unnecessary complexity. This reduced operator variability and supported efficient execution during extended validation cycles.

Traceability completed the system architecture.

The BLEAM DAQ Cart logged captured data locally under structured file systems and transmitted selected results to the customer’s corporate SQL database. LabVIEW ensured each dataset was properly associated with the correct DUT, accurately time-stamped, and stored without loss.

In automotive validation, structured and retrievable data is essential for review, audit, and root cause analysis.

Delivering Confident Validation

Ultimately, the value of the BLEAM DAQ Cart Design Validation Tester is in its ability to eliminate uncertainty.

By coordinating fixture control, environmental cycling, high-speed DAQ, communication protocol verification, and structured data logging, LabVIEW enabled the hardware to function as a cohesive validation system.

All tester requirements were met, and requested features were delivered during project execution. The customer expressed strong satisfaction with both system performance and project timing, noting that communication between Ball Systems and their internal team was world-class.